Are reusable mugs really the best choice for eco-friendly coffee?

QUESTION: I have an aversion to creating garbage, and as such, I find disposable coffee cups abhorrent. When I mentioned this to a friend once, his retort was, “Think of all the water you waste washing your ceramic mug, and the energy necessary to produce the mug in the first place.” What are the real equations at play here? How many times would I have to reuse my mug to make it the ecologically “better” alternative?Asked by Erik Uzureau, ’01, Tuscon, Ariz.

ANSWER: As a born and bred Seattleite, I care a lot about the environment and coffee. I can remember one cold winter day stepping into a Starbucks back home and feeling good as I purchased a green plastic tumbler. But then, I started to think about the petroleum used to make that plastic, and the energy used to fire the kilns that bake ceramic mugs like yours. Does the reuse outweigh the environmental impact of making these reusable cups? The answer, luckily, is yes, so long as you keep them around long enough.

Your friend’s skepticism aside, you really only need to use a ceramic mug about 18 times, or a plastic mug eight times, to break even with a paper cup in terms of water use, energy and waste. Each use after that means more environmental savings, and less garbage. Mugs hanging around your office tend to be used, on average, 50 times. My personal favorite plastic tumbler has probably held tea at least once a week over the three years I’ve had it, adding up to 150 uses or more — and 150 paper or Styrofoam cups not produced, used and thrown away. Read More >>